Silent Epidemic Needlessly Costing Life and Limb

Everyone knows of the condition Cardiovascular Disease, also known as Heart Disease, which is plaque build-up in the arteries around the heart. In the legs, plaque build-up in the arteries is known as Peripheral Artery Disease (P.A.D.). It can also impact the arms and sometimes the small arteries in the brain. But it's mainly the legs. Three-in-five heart attack sufferers, one-in-five over age 60, and one-in-three diabetics over age 50 have it. Globally, it is estimated that more than 200 million people have P.A.D. Most don't know it until it reaches advanced stages and heart attack, stroke, and amputation are imminent. Doctors may misdiagnose textbook symptoms of leg pain and leg cramps as diabetic neuropathy, diabetic foot, fibromyalgia, old age, arthritis, or even spinal/sciatic problems. But it’s easy to diagnose or rule out with even two fingers and two seconds with a doctor feeling a patient’s leg pulses. In this episode, Dr. Yazan Khatib, Interventional Cardiologist with First Coast Cardiovascular Institute in Jacksonville, Florida calls in to drive home the importance of not only diagnosing P.A.D. early but then finding the right doctor who has advanced skills in treating P.A.D. Tammie Caves, Clinical Program Director for wound care organization, Healogics, Inc. calls in to share why it’s perfect timing to discuss P.A.D as it’s Wound Care Awareness Month in June. Douglas, a P.A.D. patient from Texas sparks a discussion about walking as the best medicine. Nurse Practitioner Kay Smith is featured in our “Save My Piggies” segment, to share her story about spending 19 months in the most advanced stages of P.A.D. known as Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) and how she persevered.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.